The Wales-Wide Web

Last year I spoke at the Educa on-line conference in Berlin about e-learning in Small and Medium Enterprises. my presentation was based on the outcomes of a European Commission funded Leonardo project called ICT and SMEs.

Some time later, I received an invitation to talk at a meeting of the Elearn2work project in York in the UK - which I gather has similar aims.

So Wednesday I am off to York. Anthony Busk who works for KnowledgeBase UK - who are the project coordinators - asked me for a summary to send out in advance of the meeting. I sent him my long paper based on the project - about 23 pages and also a shorter version - about 6 pages - which I recently wrote. Anthony replied:

"Thanks for paper Graham – hope the 2 pager is OK. Had to leave out much. Many issues-allowing scope for lots of discussion?".

And indeed Anthony has condensed my pages of researchy prose to an excellent bullet list of tow pages focused on the issues arising from the project. So impressed was I, that I am posting it on the blog.

Scope
350 SMEs, focus groups, 90 case studies in seven countries (2002-2005).

Learning:
Is interactive with communities of practice
Builds on personal knowledge bases
Takes place in communities of practice
Controlled by the learner in terms of pace and time
Is episodic
Is sequenced by the learner
Response to problems or interests

ICT for Learning and Work Organisation
Main way of learning was through search engines (Google in particular).
ICT for learning is more likely to be used with flatter hierarchies and employees having greater autonomy in organising their work. –mainly smaller companies (Also, such firms has tended to have a more experienced workforce and low employee turnover).
Hierarchical work organisations tended to have least use of ICT for learning (largely manufacturing/production line enterprises).
Especially in micro firms, SME employees tend to be isolated from wider communities of practice.
Search engines are used to seek out potential forums and contexts for learning.

Knowledge of e-Learning
Few SMES aware of potential or possibilities of ICT for formal learning. Not received information from Public Sector providers – if advertising material sent, seen as junk mail.

Use of ICT
Varied by sector and occupation. Uses included administration and accounting, e-trading, customer communications, advertising and promotion, stock control and logistics. ICT not seen as a means of learning, but as a normal part of the work processes. Use of ICT in SMEs is increasing, but limited e-commerce growth.

Availability of ICT Skills
Managers did not perceive a shortage of ICT skills in the workplace as younger workers had sufficient skills.

Formal Training and Learning
Very little formal training other than regulatory, either face to face or using ICT.
Where seen as necessary: buy in initially from public sector providers, and if unavailable use private training based on word of mouth reputation.
Attitudes and involvement in training varies by size and sector

Accreditation of Learning
No employees had attempted to claim recognition or accreditation

Education and Training Policies.
Many managers are unconvinced of the benefits of initiating or continuing training:.
Few enterprises had a formal policy for education and training.
No budget for training
Nobody with formal responsibility.
Gained required skills through experience or buying in staff already trained
Few managers had formal management qualifications
Most networked with other managers
Variety of management style
There is little correlation between employees previous qualifications and their present employment.

Informal Learning
In contrast to formal learning, much informal learning was taking place.
It was learner driven rather than planned, and problem motivated or linked to personal interests.
There were differences between enterprises in use of ICT for informal learning.
Where ICT for informal learning is common, employees have developed their own occupational profiles, based on needs of the enterprise and their own specialities and interests. There may be a relationship.

Discussion
Learning and Knowledge Development
There is a big political interest in informal learning – if it could be systematised it could be a cost effective route to increasing training. First though it is necessary to formalise that learning. Attwell suggest (2005) all learning is valid – not just that supported by qualification frameworks.

Acquiring information is not learning. Case studies found learning is purposeful, influenced by context, often results in behaviour change, learners structured their own learning, problem or personal interest driven.

Whilst formal learning is progressively increasing and building on existing knowledge on a sequential basis, informal learning within the workplace is more incidental. To cope with the unexpected or unknown, relevant information is acquired which then adjusts existing knowledge.

Is European Quality Framework Flawed
The EQF is competence based rather than course driven, with the aim of developing systems and processes to accredit informal learning. It is based on educational achievement, goals and structures, rather than focusing on work based learning and knowledge.

Potential of EC I-Curriculum
The EC Socrates I-Curriculum project distinguishes between transformational, integrating and operational skills and knowledge, and is used to develop a framework for digital skills (I-Curriculum 2003). This framework matches the kind of skills for learning observed in the case studies.

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